1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to electrical devices, and particularly to electrical lighting devices suitable for commercial and residential applications.
2. Technical Background
The typical layout of a room, whether it is a public space, a living space or a commercial space, provides a wall light switch disposed adjacent to the point of entry. In a scenario that most people are familiar with, a person crossing the threshold of a darkened room will usually attempt to locate the wall switch and turn the wall switch to the ON position before entering. Sometimes the wall switch is not located in this position and the person seeking access to the room must search for the light switch. The person searching for the wall switch is required to navigate around objects such as tables and chairs. Usually, a person entering the room attempts to “feel” their way around the room. If an object is disposed relatively low to the floor surface the person may trip over it and suffer an injury. Accordingly, searching a room in this manner is not recommended because of the aforementioned safety issues. The scenario recounted above is also applicable to (but not limited to) other types of spaces such as corridors, theater aisles, stairways, patios, garages, ingress/egress areas, out-buildings, outdoor pathways and the like.
As noted above, there are situations where a light switch is not available, or is not readily available. There are other situations where the person entering the darkened room is disinclined to turn the lights ON as a matter of courtesy. Several examples immediately come to mind. A person entering a darkened theatre would expect to incur the wrath of his fellow patrons if he turned the theatre lights ON while finding a seat. In another situation, a person may desire to temporarily enter a room occupied by a person who is sleeping. For example, a parent may not want to check on the condition of a sleeping infant, or tend to someone who is ill, without having to turn the lights ON and so disturb their sleep.
In one approach that has been considered, a portable lighting device may be inserted into an electrical receptacle located in the room and function as a temporary lighting device. While this arrangement may provide adequate illumination and temporarily mitigate a potentially unsafe condition, it has certain drawbacks associated with it. Temporary lighting devices are usually aesthetically unappealing and have a makeshift look and feel. On the other hand, a temporary lighting device may be plugged into the receptacle for an extended period of time to meet the recurring lighting need. The user may attempt to address this problem by unplugging the temporary lighting device during daylight hours if the space admits natural light. However, once the temporary lighting device is unplugged from the receptacle there is the possibility that it will become lost, misplaced, or damaged from excessive handling. Of course, the steps of inserting and removing the device in response to the daily cycle are not a solution in internal spaces lacking access to sunlight.
In another approach that has been considered, a light element may be disposed in a wiring device in combination with another functional element such as a receptacle or a light switch. The wiring device is subsequently installed in a wall box or mounted to a panel. While this approach obviates some of the drawbacks described above, there are other drawbacks that come into play. Conventional permanent lighting elements such as incandescent and neon lights have a relatively short life expectancy of only a few years and, therefore, require periodic servicing and/or replacement. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that the light is typically hard-wired to power contacts disposed in the wiring device. As such, the light element is permanently ON, further limiting the light elements life expectancy.
In yet another approach that has been considered, the aforementioned drawbacks are addressed by providing a light sensor, and the associated circuitry, to control the light element. When the sensor detects the ambient light level falling past a certain point, the control circuit turns the light element ON. One design problem associated with using a light sensor to selectively actuate the light element relates to providing a proper degree of isolation between the light sensor and the light element. Conventional devices solve the problem by separating the light sensor and the light element by as great a distance as possible. As such, conventional devices are typically arranged such that the lens covering the light element is disposed in one portion of the wiring device cover and the sensor element is disposed in a second portion of the cover, with sufficient space therebetween. If the wiring device includes another functional element such as a receptacle, the sensor may be disposed between the receptacle and the light's lens cover. Because the light sensor must be disposed a sufficient distance away from the light element, it necessarily requires that the lighting assembly be reduced in size to fit the wiring device form factor. Accordingly, conventional devices of this type often fail to provide an adequate amount of illumination for the intended application and, therefore, do not address the safety concern in a satisfactory manner.
What is needed is a light source that is both adapted to a wiring device form factor and configured to address the drawbacks and needs described above. In particular, a light emitting wiring device is needed that provides a sufficient amount of illumination when the ambient light in a given space falls below a safe level. The wiring device must maximize the effective area of illumination without sacrificing sensor isolation. Further, the light source elements must have a sufficient life expectancy, i.e., greater than ten years.